Pulling To The Right - Help!

[the_scotsman]

I had an accident months ago. Car aquaplaned in torrential rain, speared me off into the barrier at 100kmh. Front end was totalled. Over 30k worth of damage, and took 6 months to get it back.

I'm really happy with the job done to be fair, but it's been pulling a little to the right ever since. Not by a massive amount, but certainly noticable. Let go of the wheel, it veers to the right. I need to keep a light pull on the wheel to the left to keep it straight. Again, not by a massive amount, but enough to be noticable.

Repairer sent me back to the wheel alignment place. They did an alignment, it was within spec. I took it back for a few weeks to see how it went, but it was still doing it. Went back to the alignment shop again. They checked again, and it's within spec. They showed me it while it was all hooked up to the alignment gear.

So I then took it to local Ford dealer. Someone there took it for a drive (no doubt an apprentice or something) and said "it pulls to the right, but only when you take your hands off the wheel". I was in shock at this...that's the whole point, the car pulls to the right when you let go the wheel, and need to maintain a straight line with the wheel! How can Ford think this is normal for it to pull right with no wheel input??

Anyway, they found nothing wrong, no sticking brakes or anything. And the alignment is ok. So I'm totally stumped as to what else it could be. Does anyone have any suggestions? Front wheels have been swapped over, to rule that out, and it made no difference.

I'm going to call the original repairer back tomorrow, to see what their next step is, as it's not back to how it was pre-smash. But I think they're as stumped as I am.

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[PC_GUARD]

I'm only speculating. The car isn't square.

Meaning: The car is parallel but it has a twist and pushing right. Just like shifting your weight on roller skates.

Pure guess if everything else is right.

 

[IPOGT]

Any bent front end parts? You can compensate with the wheel alignment but if the tension is off somewhere in the front end from a bent component it might pull. Or a missing bushing?

 

[NightmareMoon]

are your caster numbers even?

last time I had an issue like that, I had a damaged shock where it mounts to the spindle, causing the caster and geometry to be off slightly.

any dynamic play will also do this, like a balljoint with some play, where its fine on the alignment rack but it shifts a little when driving. Same result, car doesn’t drive like the alignment says.

inspect and yank on everything

 

[K4fxd]

Post a copy of your alignment sheet. In spec does not mean correct.

 

[IPOGT]

are your caster numbers even?

last time I had an issue like that, I had a damaged shock where it mounts to the spindle, causing the caster and geometry to be off slightly.

any dynamic play will also do this, like a balljoint with some play, where its fine on the alignment rack but it shifts a little when driving. Same result, car doesn’t drive like the alignment says.

inspect and yank on everything

Strut/ bushing? Curious if you check tire to wheel lip clearance do both front tire to fender gaps look even on both sides? How about the rear?

 

[cerbomark]

also try a 2 or 4 lane (one direction highway), go into the left lane and see. This is just to be sure it s not pulling right because of the road. The crown in the left lane should pull the car left as the right lane crown pulls right.

 

[galaxy]

in similar fashion like @PC_GUARD said, have someone follow you from behind and see how the car tracks visually? Is it straight, or does it crab down the road?

 

[the_scotsman]

Thanks for the replies, appreciate it.

I don't have a printout of the alignment, though I'll ask them if it's still on file and have them email me a copy.

The pull isn't related to the camber of the road, I've made sure that's not the case.

Nothing appares bent, they had a good look up on the lift.

He did say that sometimes they could play with the camber to allow for it, but Mustang has no camber adjustment. I guess you need to use plates or something?

THinknig about it, I think he maybe said camber was on the edge of the allowable spec, so perhaps that could be something.

I'll try to get a copy of the measurements to let you make more sense of it.

Thanks!

 

[the_scotsman]

Here's the alignment results.

 

[Nightmonkey]

From what I know about it (which is not that much!) front cross camber is your problem.
The difference of left and right camber, with the left wheel leaning more to the right, makes the car push to the right.
The values are simply too far apart.
Can be fixed by bringing both values closer together, as the protocol already says (the value for front cross camber is off spec).

If they do not succeed in making the camber on the right side more negative, something may still be bent.
As far as I know, you can't really adjust the camber on the S550 unless you install special top strut mounts or struts with slotted holes (is available for some coilover suspensions).
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...ustment-in-the-stock-front-suspension.170356/
One solution could then be the installation of adjustable camber plates.

And maybe someone else can confirm the reference values.
Wouldn't be the first time that a repair shop is just reading the cards because they don't have the correct reference values specified by Ford.

 

[Skye]

From what I know about it (which is not that much) front cross camber is your problem.

FWIW, differences between left and right caused me interest/concern as well. The left wheel is leaning in more, towards the right, versus the opposing tire. The differences are more than 1 degree.

You're working on a complex issue. I'd change one variable at a time and see how things go. Can they balance/even out the front camber settings?

 

[cerbomark]

I agree and would fix the front right camber to match the left. It s an easy solution if it works.

 

[K4fxd]

The toe is wrong, unless you want toe out. Buy some camber bolts and find a better shop.

 

[Nightmonkey]

The toe is wrong, unless you want toe out.

This may also play a role in how strongly it pulls to the right, but for my understanding the real problem comes from the camber.
But I'm with you, toe in would be preferable and could reduce the problem.

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